St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.) ace
pitcher Michael Strem (pictured) took the hill this past
Wednesday to face Monta Vista in the opening round of the
California Interscholastic Federation Central Coast Section
Division I playoff. To say Strem pitched a terrific game in the
Lancers 2-0 win over No. 16 Monta Vista would be a misstatement
of gross proportions.

Strem tossed a perfect game to propel his team to the second
round of the playoffs, and even more impressive than being
perfect over his 7-innings of work is that the senior hurler only
needed 66 pitches in the effort. For all you who have difficulty
with math (present company included), that works out to an
average of 3.14 pitches per batter, which is as efficient as it
is amazing.

According to the Mercury News, Strem struck
out eight Monta Vista hitters, and of his 66 pitches thrown, 48
were strikes and 18 were balls, which, perfection aside, is a
tremendous strike-to-ball ratio.

St. Francis is off until Saturday when they’ll face either Valley
Christian or Wilcox in the quarterfinals. My guess is the team
will trot Strem out to the pitcher’s mound once again, and if
he’s as half as good in the quarters as he was against Monta
Vista, then the Lancers will tap dance into the semifinals.